University of Virginia Library

Fastest Housing

Another important point to
consider is whether the
construction of high-rise
dormitories would provide housing
sooner than some other solution.
The fastest way to provide student
rooms would be constructing
different types of temporary
housing. The administration claims
that since it already owns the plans
for the future nursing dormitories
(high-rise) it could place two or
three of these type buildings on
Lambeth Field. It becomes obvious
that the primary motive here is one
of economic considerations and not
time. The University already owns
the plans to the McCormick and
Alderman Road dormitories and
could just as easily adopt these for
the Lambeth Field site. If the
placing of these dorms on Lambeth
seems ridiculous, the placing of the
nursing dorms (designed for a
completely different function and
site) is absolutely ludicrous.

Student housing is not the type
of construction that will be filled
upon completion. Students must
know in the spring whether
dormitory space will be available
for the following year. Therefore, a
year-to-year timetable is
established; if dorms are not ready
in September, then they will not be
filled until the following year. One
whole year has already been wasted
on the Lambeth Field development
and pushes back expected
occupancy dates at least two years.

A disadvantage of high-rise dorms
in relation to the time required
before availability is that the whole
building must be completed before
anyone can occupy it; whereas, in a
low-rise solution students can move
in as each separate building is
completed. This actually makes a
low-rise solution faster in the
year-to-year timetable for student
occupancy.

The administration contends
that the construction of high-rise